Residents Outraged by Hess Road Bridge Replacement Plan

Baltimore and Harford County residents came out in full force to protest a proposal to widen and replace Hess Road Bridge at a Tuesday night in Fallston.

Monkton resident Ellen Reeder, who attended the meeting at the Veronica "Roni" Chenoweth Activity Center, has lived near the bridge in the 3800 block of Hess Road for more than 35 years. She said she is concerned about the increased traffic and speeds, especially from the Harford County side, if the bridge were to be widened.

"The widening of the bridge will remove the single traffic calming device that exists," Reeder said. "Isn't this putting the fox inside the henhouse? It seems like you're servicing the people of Harford County and hurting the people in Baltimore County."

Jed Smalley, who also lives near the Hess Road bridge, is considering donating easements of his farmland to the Maryland Environmental Trust and Local Land Trusts.

"I'm now very hesitant to donate my land if the government doesn't appreciate the work that has already been done," Smalley said. "We should be preserving the roads. The character of that bridge in quite lovely."

Smalley, a doctor at York Hospital in Pennsylvania, said two of his horses were killed by a speeding vehicle on Hess Road. He said widening the road, which is frequented by equestrians and cyclists, puts more lives at risk due to increased traffic.

According to Jeff Stratmeyer, chief engineer at the Harford County Department of Public Works, there are currently about 2,600 vehicles that travel on the bridge a day and the posted speed is 30 mph, although he acknowledged that people tend to speed on the road. 

Bill Minor, another Monkton resident, is also concerned about the traffic.

"Harford County is growing, we know." he said."But we live there because we don't want the traffic."

The discussion also involved a rundown of the current condition of the bridge, which is located over Little Gunpowder Falls, on the border of Harford and Baltimore counties.

"The bridge is deteriorated and needs minor to significant repairs, said Naveed Shah, the project manager who works for the Harford County Department of Public Works. "With all the structural deficiencies you see, we need to replace the superstructure, if not the whole bridge, in two to three years."

Shah added that as of a 2009 inspection, which is the latest available information, the bridge was determined to be structurally deficient and qualifies for federal funds. He said the superstructure and the deck of the Hess Road Bridge will definitely need to be replaced but the Harford County Department of Public Works hasn't determined if the abutments need to be as well. If they do, he said, it is more cost efficient to replace the bridge instead of simply making repairs.

Harford County is also proposing to widen the bridge from one lane to two.

Although the bridge crosses both counties, Stratmeyer said Harford is taking the lead on this project because Baltimore County managed the recent initiative to restore Jericho Road bridge.

However, the counties are dividing the costs evenly. Stratmeyer said if just the superstructure and decks are repaired, each county will have to pay $200,000. But, if the Hess Road bridge is replaced, the cost is $1.5 million with 80 percent paid by the federal government and 10 percent paid by each county.

"It's an opportunity to create something really nice in the area," he said. "To me, it doesn't look like the greatest bridge in the area."

Stratmeyer also said that he believes traffic problems would be reduced by widening the bridge because people won't held up as much, which should result in them not speeding later on to compensate for delays.

Although few Harford County residents showed up to the hearing, one woman came to support her Baltimore County neighbors.

"I've traveled to Hunt Valley for 20 years and I haven't heard of Hess Road being a problem the way it is," Bel Air resident Maryanna Skowronski said.